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Americans would rather legally get high than gamble

Holy smoke! Americans favor legalized marijuana over online gambling, according to a national survey.

Public opinion of legalized pot is high with 50 percent of those surveyed supporting it but only 27 percent of those polled favor cyber-gambling, according to a national survey conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind.

“These two issues are very similar in that both internet gambling and marijuana use is taking place whether regulated or not, but Americans do not have the appetite or munchies for legalizing Internet gambling as they do for marijuana,” said PublicMind director and professor Krista Jenkins in a statement.

Online betting is currently legal in only three states – New Jersey, Delaware and Nevada – but as many as 10 other states have considered allowing it, according to the report. Most Americans (65 percent) don’t care enough about the issue to follow it closely, but about two thirds were still opposed to letting casinos run e-gambling sites in their states. These numbers have stayed relatively consistent over the past four years.

“More and more states may be considering it, but the public doesn’t seem to be buying it. Right now, online gambling looks to be a long shot in the court of public opinion,” said Jenkins.

But Americans are interested in pot’s legal fate. About nine-in-ten of those surveyed said they’ve heard or read something about legalization efforts, with the majority paying close attention to marijuana in the media.

Democrats and Millennials are more eager to see lighting up legalized. While 63 percent of Democrats support legalization, only 32 percent of Republications agree. But when given the choice between the legalization of pot and online betting, Republicans were more torn, with 39 percent saying they’d prefer pot to be legal. Only about a third of the World War II generation would like marijuana allowed, compared to 65 percent of Millenials.

“Democrats see getting high as a lifestyle choice whereas Republicans are more likely to understand it through the prism of morality and social deviance,” explained Jenkins. “However, the age differences we’re seeing suggests that legal smoking up in the future is more a question of ‘when’ rather than ‘if.'”

Two states – Washington and Colorado – have already legalized recreational marijuana use, and at least 20 states have enacted laws allowing people to smoke up for medicinal purposes.